Book 4: Shadows
by SoItGoes19
Summary: An alternate take on what could have happened in the finale, leading into a new book four. Contains both show favorites and some OCs as well. Rated T to be safe.


**Hello everyone. This fic takes place as an alternate take on what could have happened in the final episodes of Avatar, leading into a new story which I like to think of as Book Four. Basically everything that happened up to the finale still occurs, except Sokka dies and Suki was never a part of the team. Pretty much everything else up to that point is still canon. Constructive criticism is always appreciated, especially since this fic is my first venture into the Avatar the Last Airbender fandom. **

**Oops, almost forgot. Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender. **

**Now without further ado…**

"_Appa!" Aang cried out as he watched his spirit guide, part of his own soul, burn to death before his very eyes. He dropped to his knees in his hiding place in the stone wall of the cliff and sobbed. Fire Lord Ozai stood below him laughing after having delivered the final blow. _

"_What's wrong little Avatar? Do you still believe there's good left in me?" He laughed again, a cruel, terrible sound. "Come out and fight!" Aang could feel the rage growing inside of him, for this man who had killed so many of his own people, who had killed Sokka, and now Appa before his very eyes. The feeling grew and bubbled inside of him until he was consumed by it. He could feel himself losing control and then looked down in horror to see that his tattoos were glowing. The voices of all the past avatars exploded inside of his mind, drowning out his own: they demanded vengeance. _

_Powered by his rage, Aang burst from the rock and released the fire that had been growing within him. It burned white, hotter and more powerful than any of the fire he had ever bended on his own before. He turned to the Fire Lord and released his wall of white flame; Ozai countered with his own red wall. The two met in the middle, and Ozai's fire was annihilated. He had just enough time to show the horror on his face before he was obliterated himself._

_But it wasn't enough. His past lives angrily cried out for him to finish the nation that had unleashed this destruction upon the world. _

"_No!" Aang screamed within himself, "Stop!"_

_They would not listen. He soared high into the sky and submitted to the will of the avatar spirit completely, unleashing his white fire on to the fire nation below and all who lived there. Everything burned. Trees that were living and vital just seconds before became statues of crumbling ash; the water in the lakes dried up and evaporated on the spot; the very ground itself bubbled and churned. _

_And then he saw her. Katara stood on the edge of the rock cliffs perched tumultuously above one of the rivers of molten lava that he himself had created. _

"_Aang!" she cried in anguish, her cheeks covered in tears for the world that was burning around her, the world that he burned. The stone face crumbled, and he watched in horror as she fell in slow motion. He pulled his glider into a steep dive, racing against time to save the thing he loved above all else. _

_Seconds passed in agony as he fought to defy the rules of physics and gravity. Katara reached out her hand to grab his. Their fingers touched in mid air, only for an instant. She looked into his eyes with a gaze more penetrating than life itself and mouthed "I love you." And then she was gone, disappeared beneath the oozing surface of the magma._

"_Katara!" he screamed. "KATARA!"_

Aang woke up to the sound of himself screaming. This wasn't exactly new. The nightmare had plagued him every night since it had occurred in life over four years ago.

He sighed and stretched, popping his joints noisily. His cave was still dark, meaning that the sun hadn't risen yet. To call it a home would be the overstatement of the century, but it was the only thing that he had left. He had lived there primitively in isolation for the last for years, alone like a hunted animal. But it was better that way – no one would get hurt.

"Market day today," he muttered to himself quietly. Aang broke his self-imposed isolation about twice a year to go to the market in the Earth kingdom town nearby and get supplies. He donned his usual uniform and dressed in black from head to toe, complete with black leather gloves and a black headband to hide his arrow. He scoffed, flattening down his long black hair to cover any traces of the mark that proclaimed him an air-bending master. It had once given him such pride. Now it was just a permanent reminder of who he was and what he had done.

"I think that's about it, Jongh" said Aang as he paid the dealer. He thanked the merchant and gave him a small tip before setting off. Him and Jongh had developed something of a friendship (or as much of a friendship as one could have with someone that they only saw twice a year), and Aang liked to repay his kindness with whatever he could manage. He maneuvered through the crowded market streets with ease, keeping his head down and eyes averted.

"I'll have the papaya…"

Aang stopped dead in the street and dropped his bags. He knew that voice. His heart hammered in his chest as he looked up and saw a beautiful woman standing there. She wore a simple green earth-kingdom gown which concealed curves that would make Venus herself jealous. Her thick brown hair was cut at shoulder length and provided a contrast against to her tanned skin. She turned around to leave the fruit stand, and Aang saw her eyes: clear, cerulean blue, full of life. Only one person had eyes like that.

"Katara?" he breathed.

Her blue eyes widened with surprise. "Aang?"

Katara. Katara alive.

Without another word Aang scooped her into his arms and super-speeded away, leaving both the townspeople and his forgotten goods scattered in his wake.


End file.
